Young people of Bishop’s Waltham have their say on the future of their town
On Saturday 12 November 39 young people aged 11-16 from Bishop’s Waltham and the surrounding areas attended a free event organised by Bishop’s Waltham Town Team and Bishop’s Waltham Youth Club. “Voice 4 Youth” was designed to elicit their ideas for new events and activities to be held in Bishop’s Waltham.
Experienced youth workers were on hand to encourage group discussion and were pleased with the level of engagement and how positively the young people spoke about Bishop’s Waltham. Bishop’s Waltham Town Team will use the information collected to help them plan future events and projects for the town that will be more inclusive for this age group.
Young people were asked a range of questions concerning their interests, what they liked about Bishop’s Waltham and previous events that they had attended in the town. The Town Team also encouraged young people to think about new events and ideas for Bishop’s Waltham, as well as give their opinions about their favourite places to shop on the high street.
These questions were answered in a fun and interactive way, using coloured pens, stickers, photos of previous events and maps of the town centre.
The event was coordinated by Kat Lemon, Market Towns Support Officer at Winchester City Council, on behalf of the Bishop’s Waltham Town Team. Using her youth work skills Kat created an event which gave young people an opportunity to influence the work of the Bishop’s Waltham Town Team.
Young people took part in a range of activities including arts and crafts and a large inflatable laser tag game. Local coaches from Active Academy Tennis supervised indoor tennis games and The Southern Co-operative provided a food stand for young people to create their own wrap from a selection of fresh ingredients.
The group spoke positively about the amount of recreational facilities they have in Bishop’s Waltham but would like to see designated community facilities for young people like a youth café and more sports and other clubs. Some of the more interesting results showed that a handful of young people were interested in spending money in local charity shops on the high street and the Town Team was pleased to see a good general awareness of local shops and businesses, with some young people able to name over 50 as part of a competition.
The event was sponsored by The Southern Co-operative as part of a programme of funding for Market Towns Development Projects.
Cindy-Jane Weavil, Duty Manager at The Southern Co-operative Food Store, Bishops Waltham said,
The Southern Co-operative was proud to support local the Voice 4 Youth event. It demonstrated great community spirit, with many local organisations in Bishop’s Waltham working together to engage with young people.
The event was well received by the young people who attended and participant feedback included two notes asking if the Town Team could run the event on a regular basis.